VA benefits for senior care in Ohio can cover far more than most families realize. If your loved one is a veteran, the VA offers home-based medical care, nursing homes, monthly cash payments, and more. The challenge usually isn't eligibility. It's knowing what to ask for.

This guide covers every VA program that helps pay for or provide senior care, how to access them in Ohio, and what happens when VA care isn't enough on its own.

In This Guide

VA Senior Care Programs in Ohio: Long-Term Care Options

The VA offers multiple long-term care programs. Access isn't automatic once a veteran is enrolled: VA also has to conclude the veteran needs that specific service for their ongoing treatment and personal care, and the service, or a space in the care setting, has to be available near them. VA may also consider other factors, like the veteran's service-connected disability status or insurance coverage.

Home Based Primary Care (HBPC)

A VA doctor leads a health care team that provides services such as nursing care, physical therapy, and help with daily tasks in the veteran's home.

This isn't the same as home health care through Medicare. HBPC is primary care delivered at home by a team a VA doctor leads.

Adult Day Health Care

Veterans attend a structured daytime program that provides social activities, companionship, recreation, care, and support. It also gives family caregivers reliable daytime respite.

Community Living Centers (VA Nursing Homes)

Community Living Centers (CLCs) are VA nursing centers designed to feel like home, providing nursing-home-level care.

A CLC stay can be short-term or long-term, and a CLC is also one of the places a veteran can go for overnight respite care.

Community Nursing Home Program

The VA contracts with community (non-VA) nursing homes so veterans can get nursing home care near home. Don't assume the stay is free. The VA covers some extended care under a veteran's standard VA health benefits and the veteran may still owe a copay; other services aren't covered under VA health care benefits at all, and for those a family may be able to pay through Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurance. For nursing home care specifically, whether VA benefits help pay depends on the veteran's income and the level of their service-connected disability. Ask the VA social worker what the placement will cost before you plan around it.

Respite Care

Respite gives a family caregiver a break. Overnight and daily respite are each available up to 30 days each calendar year, either at home (a substitute caregiver, or an adult day health care program) or as a short stay in a CLC or community nursing home. If a community agency, adult day center, or nursing home provides it, the veteran also needs community care eligibility, and respite isn't necessarily free: after the first 21 days of extended care in a 12-month period, a veteran who isn't exempt may owe up to $97 a day for institutional respite. Ask the veteran's VA social worker or case manager about the copay before booking.

Not sure which VA program fits your family's situation? Chat with Brevy to get a personalized recommendation.

Ohio Veterans Homes

The Ohio Department of Veterans Services operates two state-run Ohio Veterans Homes, in Sandusky and Georgetown; both also offer skilled nursing care.

Campus Care Offered
Sandusky 427-bed nursing home with standard (intermediate) care and memory care, plus a domiciliary: shelter, food, and medical care on an ambulatory self-care basis for veterans who don't need nursing-home care
Georgetown 168-bed nursing home with standard (intermediate) care and memory care for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias

Under Ohio's admission rule, an applicant must have had a principal residence in Ohio for one year, must have received their most recent discharge under honorable conditions, and must have served during a war or a VA-determined period of conflict (or qualify through a separate Ohio National Guard or naval militia route). A licensed physician must also find a disability that keeps the applicant from earning a living. Contact the Ohio Department of Veterans Services for availability and current rates.

VA Aid and Attendance

Aid and Attendance is an increased monthly pension payment added to a VA pension, for a veteran (or surviving spouse) who gets a VA pension and needs the aid and attendance of another person.,

2026 Rates

Category Maximum Annual Pension Rate
Veteran with no dependents $29,093
Veteran with one dependent $34,488
Surviving spouse with no dependents $18,697

These are ceilings, the maximum amount of pension payable, not sums a claimant receives: VA pays the difference between the claimant's income for VA purposes and the limit that applies to them. VA publishes these rates as annual amounts. The monthly payment is the annual rate minus countable income, divided by 12 and rounded down to the whole dollar.

Who Qualifies

To be eligible, the veteran must not have a dishonorable discharge, and must meet all of the following:

  • At least 90 days of active duty with at least 1 day during wartime (enlisted veterans who started after September 7, 1980, generally need 24 months or their full call-up period; officers who started after October 16, 1981, follow a separate rule)
  • At least one of four qualifying circumstances: 65 or older; a permanent and total disability; a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability; or getting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). These branches are independent, so a wartime veteran under 65 who receives SSI qualifies on that branch alone, with no adjudicated disability rating.
  • A need for aid and attendance: help from another person with daily activities like bathing, feeding, and dressing; being largely confined to bed by illness; being a nursing-home patient because of a disability; or severely limited eyesight
  • A net worth below $163,699. VA's net-worth calculation combines the claimant's and their dependents' assets and annual income; the primary home and a vehicle are excluded.

The VA enforces a 3-year look-back period on asset transfers.

How to Apply

Apply using VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance), with the examination section filled out by a medical examiner. That form covers aid and attendance that will be added to either monthly compensation or pension benefits. The route described here is the pension route, whose condition VA states as: you may be eligible for this benefit if you get a VA pension and you meet at least 1 of the requirements above. A wartime veteran taking the pension route who is not already receiving a VA pension files Form 21P-527EZ (Application for Veterans Pension) along with the 21-2680. You can file online at VA.gov, by mail to the VA Pension Intake Center, or in person at a VA regional office. On how long a decision takes, VA's answer is "It depends." It works claims in the order it receives them unless a claim qualifies for priority processing.

Don't do this alone. Your County Veterans Service Office's service officers advise and assist veterans and their families in presenting VA claims, and they do it free of charge.

For the full application walkthrough, see our VA Aid and Attendance guide for Ohio.

Aid and Attendance is federal money, but Ohio runs a benefit of its own that a veteran can hold at the same time. A veteran with a total service-connected disability rating, or a total rating based on individual unemployability, can have part of their home's value taken out of what the county taxes, with no income test, filed with the county auditor rather than the VA. Our guide to the Ohio disabled veteran property tax exemption covers who qualifies, what it is worth, and how a surviving spouse keeps it. For Ohio's other state benefits for disabled veterans and the rating each one needs, see what each VA rating unlocks in Ohio.

Veteran-Directed Care

The Veteran-Directed Care (VDC) program gives enrolled veterans a flexible budget, managed by the veteran or their representative, to hire and supervise their own workers so they can keep living at home or in their community.

Through that budget, veterans may also hire family, friends, and/or neighbors to provide services. An enrolled veteran who is eligible for community care and meets the clinical criteria can use it where it's available, and an options counselor at a local aging and disability network agency plans the care and arranges fiscal management services. This is a good option for veterans who want control over their care and prefer family members as caregivers.

Contact your local VA medical center's social work department to ask about VDC availability in your area and to confirm who may be hired.

Community Care Through the MISSION Act

The MISSION Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-182, enacted June 6, 2018) has, since 2019, let enrolled veterans get care from community (non-VA) providers at the VA's expense. Two requirements always apply: the veteran must be enrolled in or eligible for VA health care, and must have approval from their VA health care team before getting community care, except in certain cases such as urgent or emergency care. Beyond that, at least one of six conditions has to be true, including:

  • After you ask, VA determines it can't offer an appointment within 20 days (primary care, mental health, and extended outpatient care) or 28 days (specialty care)
  • The drive to a VA facility averages more than 30 minutes (primary care, mental health, and extended outpatient care) or 60 minutes (specialty care)
  • The care you need isn't available at any VA health facility
  • You and your VA provider agree community care is in your best medical interest
  • VA can't provide the service in a way that meets its quality standards

The wait and drive figures decide eligibility, not when you'll be seen, and failing either one is enough.

On May 19, 2025, the VA streamlined the best-medical-interest pathway by implementing language in the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (Public Law 118-210, enacted January 2, 2025), removing the extra step of review by a second VA doctor and giving eligible veterans faster access to community care.

How VA Benefits Work with Medicare and Medicaid

VA benefits don't replace Medicare or Medicaid, a veteran isn't required to sign up for Medicare to keep VA health care, and an Ohio veteran or surviving spouse can receive VA pension and Medicaid at the same time., But Medicare and the VA generally can't pay for the same items or services: each time you get care, you choose which benefit to use, and VA doesn't bill Medicare. Holding VA health coverage is no shield against Medicare's Part B late-enrollment penalty. VA warns that if you put off Part B and then have to sign up later, because you lose VA health care or want more choice in where you get care, you'll pay a penalty that gets bigger each year you delayed and that you'll pay every year for the rest of your life.

  • VA + Medicare: Holding both is normal. Medicare pays for Medicare-covered services, and the VA pays for VA-authorized services in a VA or non-VA facility. The line isn't sealed: if the VA authorizes a non-VA hospital stay but not every service during it, Medicare may pay for the Medicare-covered services the VA didn't authorize.
  • VA + Ohio Medicaid: Aid and Attendance is a federal VA pension administered separately from Ohio Medicaid, with different agencies, applications, and rules, and an Ohio veteran can receive both at the same time. The programs count money differently: VA lets unreimbursed medical and care costs above 5% of the claimant's MAPR be deducted from countable income, which can raise the Aid and Attendance amount, while Ohio Medicaid applies its own income and asset tests and, at the eligibility step, uses SSI income rules under which the Aid and Attendance allowance isn't income, so only the basic pension counts toward Ohio's limit. Eligibility is only the first step. In a nursing facility or other medical institution, 42 CFR 435.725 brings income disregarded at eligibility back in when the state sets what the resident owes the facility, though a state's own rule can exempt Aid and Attendance. Ohio's rule (OAC 5160:1-6-07) excludes up to $90 a month of VA pension, Aid and Attendance included, from that patient liability, but only for a veteran with no spouse and no dependent minor or disabled child, or a surviving spouse with no such child. A veteran with a spouse or such a child can still be paid the full rate; ask your county Job and Family Services (JFS) office or the Ohio Department of Medicaid how Ohio treats it. For the unmarried veteran with no child (or surviving spouse with no child) whose nursing-facility care Medicaid covers, federal law caps the VA pension at $90 a month; that $90 is the Aid and Attendance allowance, and the facility's Medicaid payment can't be reduced by it. The cap doesn't reach a State veterans home for which VA pays a nursing-home per diem, and whether an Ohio Veterans Home stay is one depends on that per diem, so check with an accredited Veterans Service Officer. The statute and VA's regulation state different start dates for the cap (after the month of admission versus after the month Medicaid payments begin), so a resident who entered as a private payer should check which date VA applied. Ohio then deducts, in order, a personal needs allowance, allowances for a spouse or other family at home, uncovered medical costs, and any SSI or state supplement still paid; Ohio Medicaid sets the first three amounts. A household using home and community-based waiver services instead shouldn't read 435.725 as its share of cost and should confirm the waiver rule with Ohio Medicaid.,
  • Because the two programs interact, the order and timing of applications can matter.

This is where a Veterans Service Officer or elder law attorney earns their value. A benefits counselor who understands both programs should review a case before applying.

How to Get Started

1
Step 1

Confirm VA health care enrollment

If the veteran isn't already enrolled in VA health care, apply at va.gov/health-care/how-to-apply. Once the application is processed and the veteran is enrolled, the VA assigns them to 1 of 8 priority groups based on military service history, disability rating, income level, whether the veteran qualifies for Medicaid, and other benefits they receive, such as a VA pension; a veteran who qualifies for more than one group is assigned to the highest one.

2
Step 2

Get help

Don't file claims or applications alone. These organizations can help:

  • Ohio Department of Veterans Services (ODVS): (614) 644-0898. ODVS's Benefits Resource Guide lists the County Veterans Service Offices county by county, and the same listing is at ohiovets.gov/cvsos. ODVS trains County Veterans Service Officers and County Veterans Service Commissioners, but it is a state agency that is not directly affiliated with the federal VA and does not have autonomy over the 88 county offices.
  • County Veterans Service Offices: Every one of Ohio's 88 counties has a CVSO, and its county veterans service officers advise and assist veterans and their families in presenting claims for benefits under any law of the United States or of Ohio. ODVS publishes a printable listing of every county office with its street address and phone number.
  • Your local VA medical center social work department
3
Step 3

Gather records

You'll need the veteran's DD-214 (discharge papers), medical records documenting the need for care, and financial information. If you can't find the DD-214, the National Personnel Records Center can provide copies (request through va.gov).

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have to be service-connected disabled to get VA long-term care?

Not for all programs. Veterans with a service-connected disability the VA has rated 50% or more disabling are placed in Priority Group 1, and any veteran rated 10% or higher pays no copay for outpatient or inpatient care. Long-term care is handled separately: there is no copay for the first 21 days of geriatric or extended care in a 12-month period, and from the 22nd day the VA sets the copay based on the level of care and the financial information on VA Form 10-10EC. Some veterans don't have to pay these copays at all: they are exempt because of their disability rating, income level, or special eligibility factors. But other enrolled veterans can access many programs too, as long as VA concludes they need the specific service and it's available near them. Aid and Attendance doesn't require a service-connected disability at all; it requires wartime service, no dishonorable discharge, a need for aid and attendance (such as help with activities of daily living), and at least one of four qualifying circumstances: 65 or older, a permanent and total disability, being in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability, or receiving SSDI or SSI.

Who can be admitted to an Ohio Veterans Home?

An applicant needs one year's residence in Ohio, a most recent discharge under honorable conditions, wartime or conflict-period service (or a qualifying Ohio National Guard or naval militia disability), and a physician's finding of a disability that keeps them from earning a living. Admission priority doesn't depend on income or ability to pay.

How long does it take to get Aid and Attendance approved?

VA's own answer is "It depends." It works claims in the order it receives them, unless a claim qualifies for priority processing. If you're still gathering paperwork, filing VA Form 21-0966 (Intent to File) first can secure the earliest possible effective date for any retroactive payments.

Does the VA pay for assisted living?

The VA doesn't directly operate assisted living facilities, but Aid and Attendance is paid to the veteran as an increase to the monthly VA pension, and the household can put that money toward assisted living. Care costs there can also lower countable income: health care from a health care provider counts, and help with daily activities counts if the veteran is receiving health care or custodial care in the facility and either needs aid and attendance, is housebound, or a physician, physician assistant, certified nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist has stated in writing that they need to be in a protected environment. Veteran-Directed Care is a different tool: its flexible budget is for hiring and supervising workers who help a veteran live at home or in their community, so ask the VA social worker making the referral whether it fits an assisted living plan.

What if the VA denies the Aid and Attendance claim?

After an initial decision, you have three decision review options: a Supplemental Claim (file new and relevant evidence the VA didn't have before), a Higher-Level Review (a higher-level reviewer looks at the case, with no new evidence submitted), or a Board Appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals, where a Veterans Law Judge reviews the case. You elect one of the three, not two at once: while a review is pending final adjudication, you can't file under a different option (38 CFR 3.2500(b)). A Higher-Level Review or a Board Appeal generally has to be elected within one year of the date the VA issued notice of its decision. The regulation carves out exceptions: in a simultaneously contested claim (several people claiming a benefit only one can receive), the only option is a Board Appeal, filed within 60 days. A Supplemental Claim can still be filed after that year, but one VA receives more than a year after the date on the decision notice takes an effective date no earlier than the date VA receives it (38 CFR 3.2500(h)(2)), and continuous pursuit of the claim is broken unless VA grants an extension of the one-year period for good cause (38 CFR 3.109(b)). In plain terms: the door stays open, but filing late can cost back pay all the way to the original claim date, so file inside the year. The menu also changes as a case moves along: after a Higher-Level Review decision the choices are a Supplemental Claim or a Board Appeal, and after a Board decision, a Supplemental Claim or an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, which must be filed within 120 days of the date on the Board's decision letter. That appeal goes to the Court itself rather than to the VA, and a properly addressed notice of appeal you put in the mail is deemed received on the date of the legible U.S. Postal Service postmark on the envelope, which is the date the 120-day clock measures. Your County Veterans Service Office can advise and assist you in pursuing that review.

Next Steps

If you're caring for a veteran who needs help, start by finding your County Veterans Service Office in ODVS's county-by-county listing at ohiovets.gov/cvsos. A County Veterans Service Officer can assess which benefits apply and help you file.

Learn More

VA BenefitsVA benefits for senior care nationwideA complete guide to VA benefits for senior care: long-term care, Aid and Attendance, pensions, DIC, and home grants for older veterans and surviving spouses. VA BenefitsVA Aid and Attendance in OhioVA Aid and Attendance in Ohio for 2026: who qualifies, 2026 rates, how to apply, and where ODVS and county veterans service offices can help. Care TypesHome Care vs Home Health in OhioOhio non-medical home care vs. skilled home health in 2026: who pays, PASSPORT and Ohio Home Care waivers, Medicare rules, and what each costs this year. Care TypesNursing Homes in OhioHow Ohio licenses and pays for nursing homes in 2026: costs, CMS Care Compare ratings, NF Medicaid eligibility, and PASSPORT and other home-care alternatives. Care TypesCost of Senior Care in OhioCost of senior care in Ohio for 2026: assisted living about $6,102 a month, a nursing home about $110,230 a year. See every setting and how families pay. Care TypesAssisted Living vs Nursing Home in OhioAssisted living vs. a nursing home in Ohio: $71,700-$73,230 a year, mostly private-pay, vs. roughly $110,230/year for a nursing home Medicaid can cover.
Your next step Find personalized help navigating VA senior care benefits in Ohio at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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